MTM 67

“As expected, Harto isn’t a monster, he’s an angel!”

Allen, delighted after gulping down the water, reached out to hug Harto. Zed grabbed the back of his neck in an instant and threw him aside. It was as if he were throwing away a piece of trash.

“W-what’s that for, Zed…!”

Allen fell flat on the sand and shouted in protest, but Zed only said shortly, “It’s hot,” and lifted his own water pouch to pour him a share. Only then did Allen’s angry expression soften.

“Don’t drink like a pig again. Save some.”

“P-pig…?”

“And Harto is a monster. Don’t compare him with anything else.”

Zed warned and turned away from Allen’s grumbling, walking toward their bundle of supplies. He planned to refill Leon’s pouch too, but it was already full.

“Don’t tell me… all the water…”

He thought Harto had shared every drop without keeping any for himself, so he lifted Harto’s pouch to check. But it was heavy, and he could hear the slosh of water inside. He could tell it was full without opening it.

When Zed quietly turned his head, Harto was lying beside Leon on the sand, pointing up at the stars and talking cheerfully.

“……”

Zed stood still for a while and watched him in silence.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

That night, the group camped in the desert. The temperature dropped, but there was no firewood, so they slept holding their packs or wearing several layers of clothing. Thanks to the sleeping bags Zed had prepared in advance, they hadn’t frozen to death.

Harto, as always, turned into his monster form and slept in Zed’s arms. But he couldn’t sleep soundly. The cold wind that blew with the sand stung his face every time it brushed past. Each time he flinched awake, Zed blocked the wind with his shoulder.

Then, just when he was beginning to fall into a warm sleep…

“Nngh… ugh…”

Harto woke to a noise. He opened his eyes and turned his head. Inside his sleeping bag, Allen was grimacing and groaning.

“Allen…?”

At first, Harto thought it was sleep-talking, but something was wrong. Allen’s hair was soaked with sweat, and even his breathing sounded rough, like someone feverish. Harto slipped out of Zed’s arms and hurried over to him. Up close, his condition looked even worse.

“Allen, are you sick? Zed! Allen’s…!”

He turned to call for Zed and froze.

“Ugh…”

Zed was drenched in sweat too and looked as if he were in pain. Harto quickly searched for Leon, but he was the same.

“Wh-why… all of you… suddenly…”

Every one of them was showing strange symptoms. Feeling that something was terribly wrong, Harto looked around. Then something moved under the sand. His eyes widened as he stared at it.

Grab.

“……!”

A hand clutched his shoulder. He turned around in shock. It was Allen. Allen’s eyes were open, but they had no focus. His dull gaze pointed somewhere ahead.

“Huh…?”

In the darkness, a blurred white shape shimmered. As he blinked once, twice, the form turned into a beautiful woman covered in dazzling ornaments that shone all over her body.

“Who… who are you…”

Startled, Harto stepped back, but Allen didn’t. He stood up and reached his hand toward the mysterious woman.

“The oasis… I finally… finally found it…”

“The oasis…?”

Allen was entranced and mumbled weakly. A vast blue oasis sparkled before his eyes. It was like magic. The view was far more splendid and beautiful than anything Harto had imagined, and he stood frozen in awe.

The woman standing before the oasis smiled seductively and beckoned Allen toward her.

“A-Allen! Don’t go…!”

Harto stumbled forward and grabbed Allen’s waist tightly. Overpowered by the pull, Allen fell back onto the sand.

“S-sorry. Allen, can you hear me? Wake up…”

“Heeheeheehee…”

As Harto tried to support him, a strange laugh echoed beside his ear. When he turned his head, Leon was walking away, chuckling to himself.

“That’s…”

At the place Leon was walking toward, there stood a woman holding a golden crown shaped like a leaf. No, when Harto looked more closely, her clothes and face looked exactly like the fortune-teller they had met in the banquet district.

“As expected… this Leon has been chosen by destiny… heh, very well. I, the great mage Leon Finer, shall accept my fate…”

Leon, like Allen, spoke with unfocused eyes and walked forward. Harto quickly reached out and grabbed his waist.

“Leon, snap out of it…! Why you too…”

There was no time to breathe. The strange illusion wasn’t only attacking the two of them.

“Zed!”

Harto turned his body toward Zed. In the brief moment his eyes had left him, Zed had already started walking toward a woman wearing a red scarf.

“Mother…”

Zed took out the ruby necklace hanging from his neck. It looked like he was about to hand it to her. A bright light was shining from the red gem.

“Ah… no, Zed!”

He didn’t know what was going on, but he felt that he must not let Zed give her the necklace. He had to stop him. Harto moved his body and created something. Even if its shape was grotesque enough to remind him he was a monster, there was no other way.

Whip!

A black tendril curved and managed to grab Zed.

“Zed! You can’t go there…!”

When Harto shouted loudly, Zed flinched and turned his head. The moment their eyes were about to meet, now tinged with gold, a wave of sand blew across his vision.

“Ugh!”

Swish–!

The heaving sand rose like a giant wave, then began to whirl in a circle. It wasn’t a natural formation. The wind surrounding Harto in a wide ring spewed sand at them like an attack. Harto pulled as hard as he could so none of the three would get hurt. Allen fell, and Leon toppled forward, but at least they were within Harto’s range.

“Ugh, Zed!”

But Zed was the problem. His strength was too great for one tendril to pull him in completely. In that short time, the swirling sand grew fiercer and the circle tightened.

‘It’s going to swallow us!’

He didn’t know how he knew, but it was clear that something hidden beneath the sand was trying to consume them all. If they stayed like this, they would be taken in an instant. He had to protect them first.

“Urgh…!”

Making a quick decision, Harto stretched his body without hesitation. Using the cactus as a center, he pushed Allen and Leon inside himself and stretched several tendrils to pull Zed in. When Zed finally fell and stopped resisting, Harto expanded his body further, lifted himself into the air, and dropped down again.

Thump!

The black slime wall that had turned into a shield repelled the sandstorm with a heavy sound.

Even after that, the sand continued attacking several more times, but every time it struck, it bounced off the soft slime wall.

Ssssh–.

Realizing its attacks weren’t working, the movement of the sand that had been closing in started to slow. Harto didn’t miss the chance. He puffed his cheeks and blew out fire.

Whoosh!

When weak flames scattered here and there, the sandstorm retreated. It looked like it had hidden itself in fear of the heat.

“Did it run away?”

But he couldn’t keep the fire up for long. The people trapped inside his shield started struggling, trying to get out. Their fists and kicks kept pounding against the soft wall. Allen and Leon’s movements were weak and sluggish, as if they were half asleep, but Zed was different.

“Ow! Z-Zed! That hurts…!”

When Zed realized that brute force wouldn’t break through the jelly-like wall, he started pinching and scratching one spot over and over. It hurt enough to make Harto tear up, but he endured it.

‘Maybe splashing water will wake them up!’

His eyes flashed, and without a second thought, he sprayed water from his body. The stream wasn’t strong, but once it soaked them, their movements stopped.

“Is everyone okay? Allen! Leon! Zed…!”

As Harto called out to them, something strange happened.

“Wow! The stars are twinkling so brightly!”

Leon lifted his head and exclaimed with a face full of innocent wonder.